


Remedial Wild Emotionality

by hedwwig



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Basic Sandwich, Canon Autistic Character, Clone Abed, Clone Troy, Episode: s02e06 Epidemiology, Episode: s05e05 Geothermal Escapism, Episode: s05e13 Basic Sandwich, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-20 00:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1490278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedwwig/pseuds/hedwwig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You said her emotional components work?"</p>
<p>"Well, in theory, a blast of human passion could shock the mainframe into a cold start, but-"</p>
<p>You tuned him out after that. You were familiar with this scenario. Cold start was practically your middle name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remedial Wild Emotionality

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically an AU for the climax of Community’s S5 Finale, Basic Sandwich. As people who saw it know, Jeff ends up saving the day. So I thought, what if that job had fallen to Abed? Yeah. Warnings for spoilers and possible heartbreak. It won’t make any sense if you don’t know the context of the situation. Also, this is my first ever Real Fanfiction TM and may have been written at 2 AM, sooooooo I hope it's half decent.

"You said her emotional components work?"

"Well, in theory, a blast of human passion could shock the mainframe into a cold start, but-"

You tuned him out after that. You were familiar with this scenario. Cold start was practically your middle name.

~

You hung back, though, not wanting to seem too eager to be the savior. That was really Jeff’s territory, and now would be a half-decent time for his “asshole with a heart of gold” side to show its rakishly handsome face. No one stepped forward, though. Annie looked dejected, Britta looked resigned, the Dean looked nervous… Jeff just tightened his lips and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Lack of confidence, there. That wouldn’t do. 

"Alright. I got this."

You stepped forward and took the headpiece from the grimy old techie’s hands. In the split second of hesitation between when the metal touched your fingers and when you brought it to your head, you heard Jeff mutter some comment about robots underneath his breath. 

"We need someone to override the thing with emotion, not  _bond_  with it.”

"Jeff, shut up, if it doesn’t work it can’t hurt," Britta hissed back.

You sighed and clamped the headphone-like device over your head. You found that everyone staring at you- Britta and Annie’s doubt showing through their encouraging smiles- made you uncomfortable. You removed the headpiece from one ear.

"Could you all turn around? I don’t like people staring at me in  _normal_ situations; you can understand how this in particular would be more than a little unnerving.” 

With a glance passed between them, your friends turned their backs on you. Purely in the physical sense, this time. You smiled slightly and readjusted the device over your ears, looking at the backs of their heads.

~

Britta first. She may not fully believe in you, but she stood up for you. She always meant well. She just had more love than she ever got in return, so her methods of giving were… slightly wonky, to say the least, and rarely had intended effects. It didn’t matter to you. Her intentions were the best. You cared about her.

Dean Pelton was much the same, though God help you if either of the two heard themself being compared to the other. If there was one thing the Dean was, it was passionate. About his students, his teachers (some more than others), his costumes, his dances, his school. Deaning was all he knew. He loved Greendale and wanted to protect it so much. That made you happy. He made you happy

~

You glanced at Raquel, not really expecting much of a change. Yeah, nothing. You were starting to feel something, but Britta and the Dean weren’t really gonna cut it. 

~

Jeff’s turn, then. As previously stated: asshole with a heart of gold. You weren’t quite sure why he still clung so desperately to the cool guy facade- everyone knew by now how much he loved his friends and his school. You supposed it was along the lines of what you told Annie, earlier. Jeff was scared. All the same, he was down here with you, still trying to save the place he claimed to have let go. His heart was too big. His love spread to everyone in the group, including you.

Now Annie. Your Princess Annie. You weren’t really sure how you would survive without that girl anymore, not since- no. You refused to think about that. Not now. Annie would be enough. Annie kept the group together, Annie got you organized and got down to business and usually got what you were saying better than most people. Annie was your defender and you were hers. Annie was one of your best friends. 

~

Another glance at Raquel. Son of a bitch, this wasn’t enough. Her screen flickered back and forth between the frowny face and the apathetic face she had had when Borchert had been stroking his nipples. Hm.

~

You moved on, mentally speaking. Next logical step, someone you were even closer to than Annie. Rachel, of course. She knew you well, she cared about you, she knew when to stay by your side and when to step away. What Rachel represented used to terrify you, but Jeff was right about one thing at least- things change. You had been together for months now, and everything… seemed to be going well. She didn’t seem to want to leave. That’s good. You really really liked her. 

~

Raquel’s face was now flickering between the straight mouth and what could only be described as a half-smile. Fairly accurate, you supposed. Happy, but not… emotional. Not enough. Okay. If this was how it’s gonna be, this was how it had to be. The emotions were necessary- you had to have them now. Your heart sped up by the tiniest measure possible before you realized it would be okay. You had just spent the past few minutes contemplating how much your friends cared about you, after all. You’d be okay. You could do it. Worrying the inside of your bottom lip with your teeth, you flipped the internal switch you had hidden from everyone but yourself, restoring Clone Abed to Original Abed once more.

~

You let Troy’s name fill your mind like a flood, let everything about your best friend overtake your senses, or at least the memories they retained. His wide smile, quick to fall at the first sign of distress; his laugh, warm and bubbly and feeling in your ears the way diet squirt tasted- so similar and yet completely alien to his singing voice, like burnt velvet and cinnamon and the first friend you ever had; the first time you spoke to him, and the last- the feel of his arms around your waist and his stubbly cheek against your neck as he hugged you, tighter, as you whispered (almost by obligation) “Never let go, Jack.” No one could hear but him, and he said nothing, but you felt- as you had so many times before- his tears drip on to your shoulder. 

Unbidden, a memory came to you, suddenly at the forefront, jostling its way before all the detritus the dam in your mind had held back all these months. It was not a conscious memory, but one buried, perhaps by yourself, perhaps some other way. You gazed up at Troy, framed by moonlight in a window. He was shirtless- wait- what the hell? You forced yourself to return to this memory, not wanting to let go once you had it. You tried desperately to ignore the steadily increasing beeps and slow hums of Raquel coming back to life. Just one more push and you’d all be free. Memory-Troy looked down at you, almost desperately sad. 

"Abed!" 

He already had your full attention, was calling your name really necessary?

He blinked. 

"I love you."

Your heart stopped, both in the memory and in the moment, the ever-more-urgent beeping and whirring mere background noise to the flickering lights and Raquel’s flickering face and your flickering resolve-

"I know."

~

You said it out loud, as you said it in the memory, and at once the room was awash in light and sound. You had only been within your head for a matter of minutes, but it felt as though months had passed trapped in your own mind. In a way, you supposed they had. 

As you opened your eyes, the group simultaneously cheered, clapping you on the back as they ran toward the now-opening exit. Not one stopped to share a knowing glance with you on the way out- not that you minded. It was better that way. Some things aren’t meant to be known by too many. 

A tiny smile twitched at the corners of your mouth as you followed your friends upstairs at a carefully reasonable pace. 

You knew. And that had been enough. 


End file.
